switzersflask
09-13-2010, 05:22 PM
The Sooners are for real. Like, really good. Like, much better than Texas, at this stage of the season. Like, good enough to play for a national title good.Of course, they hardly ever lose here at Owen Field, and it was pretty clear midway through the first half that the nation's longest home winning streak, which now extends to 32 games, would not be in jeopardy.NORMAN, Okla. — Bobby Bowden got out in the nick of time. At least he had an excuse. The aged coaching icon was forced out of the job.
His successor, Jimbo Fisher, has to stay. At least for a while.
Bob Stoops isn't going anywhere either, unless it's back to the lofty heights of college football, which has been foreign territory of late for the crimson-and-creamed, relatively speaking.
For any cynics who thought that the Sooners had lost some of their swagger, think again.
If this was to be a message as to the state of Oklahoma football to the rest of the country, consider it sent.
Special delivery.
The Sooners are for real. Like, really good. Like, much better than Texas, at this stage of the season. Like, good enough to play for a national title good.Of course, they hardly ever lose here at Owen Field, and it was pretty clear midway through the first half that the nation's longest home winning streak, which now extends to 32 games, would not be in jeopardy.
A week after slipping by Utah State, 10th-ranked Oklahoma mauled 17th-rated Florida State by a 47-17 score that would have been even more lopsided had the Seminoles not scored on a 47-yard pass on the game's final play.
The hurry-up Sooners scored touchdowns on their first four possessions — three of them capping 80-yard drives — and cruised to their 14th consecutive win against a ranked opponent at home.
And the statement was?
"We've won two games," said Stoops, who's never big on statements. "We'll be judged on the whole year."
Sure, Florida State was overrated, vastly so. After all, the Seminoles play in the ACC, a league whose powerhouse, Georgia Tech, fell to Kansas this weekend.
Oh, and you can forget that OU squeaker over Utah State last week. Wide receiver Ryan Broyles, maybe OU's best player, attributed it to a vanilla game plan, estimating the Sooners used 6 percent of the playbook. The same applied to the defense.
On this day, OU sifted through the playbook, relying heavily on its new pistol formation, with a back positioned behind the quarterback in the shotgun but also using three wideouts, using the I-formation liberally, and giving a pair of touchdown passes to tight ends.
"We've got a chance to be pretty good," offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said.
We witnessed how good the Sooners are when they're really focused and every-down intense. This was the biggest home nonconference matchup in the Stoops era.
"As a team, we never panicked," OU linebacker Travis Lewis said. "People know we're Oklahoma, and we're coming. We're not an average team. If we put it all together, this is what you get."
The Sooners brought that October-like intensity to this one and usually do before home crowds like the one Saturday, which was the school's second-largest ever at 85,630 fans.
Put a Bowl Championship Series game here, and OU's got itself a winner because it's won 52 of its last 53 on Norman soil.
Elsewhere, the Sooners have lost their last five BCS games, having not won since they played Washington State in the Rose Bowl to cap the 2002 season. In other words, it's been a while.
The Seminoles are known for sneaking out of town with a chunk of sod for their campus cemetery, but the only grass they left Owen Field with was the stains on their backsides.
This edition of OU is more than capable. Much more.
Quarterback Landry Jones operated with Sam Bradford efficiency, the defense fed off the offense, and except for a hiccup or two from placekicker Patrick O'Hara, the special teams are dynamite.
"Oklahoma's a great football team," FSU's Fisher said. "They made plays in space. They converted on big plays."
Last week, Jones completed fewer than half his passes, something predecessors Josh Heupel, Jason White and Bradford did just four times in 84 combined games.
On this day, Jones looked like Bradford revisited. He threw for 321 yards. In the first half. That was second in school history only to Bradford, who put up 350 on feeble North Texas once.
Yeah, lots of them were safe, swing passes to receivers and backs in the flat. Of Jones' 30 completions, 13 were those horizontal tosses that went for 107 yards.
Jones was crisp from the outset, finding 12 receivers overall and firing an NFL-quality dart across the field to emerging receiver Cameron Kenney, who is fast becoming an alternative weapon to the explosive Broyles.
http://www.statesman.com/sports/collegefootball/these-sooners-are-for-real-910786.html
[/URL][URL="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v424/gen3sooner/smilies/boomersooner-logo.gif"]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v424/gen3sooner/smilies/boomersooner-logo.gif (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v424/gen3sooner/smilies/boomersooner-logo.gif)
His successor, Jimbo Fisher, has to stay. At least for a while.
Bob Stoops isn't going anywhere either, unless it's back to the lofty heights of college football, which has been foreign territory of late for the crimson-and-creamed, relatively speaking.
For any cynics who thought that the Sooners had lost some of their swagger, think again.
If this was to be a message as to the state of Oklahoma football to the rest of the country, consider it sent.
Special delivery.
The Sooners are for real. Like, really good. Like, much better than Texas, at this stage of the season. Like, good enough to play for a national title good.Of course, they hardly ever lose here at Owen Field, and it was pretty clear midway through the first half that the nation's longest home winning streak, which now extends to 32 games, would not be in jeopardy.
A week after slipping by Utah State, 10th-ranked Oklahoma mauled 17th-rated Florida State by a 47-17 score that would have been even more lopsided had the Seminoles not scored on a 47-yard pass on the game's final play.
The hurry-up Sooners scored touchdowns on their first four possessions — three of them capping 80-yard drives — and cruised to their 14th consecutive win against a ranked opponent at home.
And the statement was?
"We've won two games," said Stoops, who's never big on statements. "We'll be judged on the whole year."
Sure, Florida State was overrated, vastly so. After all, the Seminoles play in the ACC, a league whose powerhouse, Georgia Tech, fell to Kansas this weekend.
Oh, and you can forget that OU squeaker over Utah State last week. Wide receiver Ryan Broyles, maybe OU's best player, attributed it to a vanilla game plan, estimating the Sooners used 6 percent of the playbook. The same applied to the defense.
On this day, OU sifted through the playbook, relying heavily on its new pistol formation, with a back positioned behind the quarterback in the shotgun but also using three wideouts, using the I-formation liberally, and giving a pair of touchdown passes to tight ends.
"We've got a chance to be pretty good," offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said.
We witnessed how good the Sooners are when they're really focused and every-down intense. This was the biggest home nonconference matchup in the Stoops era.
"As a team, we never panicked," OU linebacker Travis Lewis said. "People know we're Oklahoma, and we're coming. We're not an average team. If we put it all together, this is what you get."
The Sooners brought that October-like intensity to this one and usually do before home crowds like the one Saturday, which was the school's second-largest ever at 85,630 fans.
Put a Bowl Championship Series game here, and OU's got itself a winner because it's won 52 of its last 53 on Norman soil.
Elsewhere, the Sooners have lost their last five BCS games, having not won since they played Washington State in the Rose Bowl to cap the 2002 season. In other words, it's been a while.
The Seminoles are known for sneaking out of town with a chunk of sod for their campus cemetery, but the only grass they left Owen Field with was the stains on their backsides.
This edition of OU is more than capable. Much more.
Quarterback Landry Jones operated with Sam Bradford efficiency, the defense fed off the offense, and except for a hiccup or two from placekicker Patrick O'Hara, the special teams are dynamite.
"Oklahoma's a great football team," FSU's Fisher said. "They made plays in space. They converted on big plays."
Last week, Jones completed fewer than half his passes, something predecessors Josh Heupel, Jason White and Bradford did just four times in 84 combined games.
On this day, Jones looked like Bradford revisited. He threw for 321 yards. In the first half. That was second in school history only to Bradford, who put up 350 on feeble North Texas once.
Yeah, lots of them were safe, swing passes to receivers and backs in the flat. Of Jones' 30 completions, 13 were those horizontal tosses that went for 107 yards.
Jones was crisp from the outset, finding 12 receivers overall and firing an NFL-quality dart across the field to emerging receiver Cameron Kenney, who is fast becoming an alternative weapon to the explosive Broyles.
http://www.statesman.com/sports/collegefootball/these-sooners-are-for-real-910786.html
[/URL][URL="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v424/gen3sooner/smilies/boomersooner-logo.gif"]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v424/gen3sooner/smilies/boomersooner-logo.gif (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v424/gen3sooner/smilies/boomersooner-logo.gif)